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Death in the Afternoon

Camper English, a San Francisco–based writer, developed this adaptation of a classic drink recipe to showcase the use of absinthe, but Ernest Hemingway gets credit for the recipe. His advice, circa 1935: "Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly." We recommend drinking fewer than five. You may also try pouring the absinthe on top instead—some brands of absinthe will float for a time on the Champagne, and this makes for a nifty visual effect.

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Recent Reviews

For years, Camper English has been teaching us about the history of many different types of spirits on his website: alcademics dot com. This recipe is a wonderful piece of history.
Caveat: You HAVE to like both your chosen absinthe AND your chosen champagne to like this amazing beverage. The more you like each, the more you'll like this simple yet very special "spritzer."
Absinthe tastes of licorice and yes, there are many types out there so try it by itself before trying this beverage. The two ingredients play off of each other wonderfully and it's SUCH a pretty color!

shaddy from san francisco /

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I made this at Halloween and it was the worst drink I have ever made. 6 of us poured it down the drain. Big waste of champers!

flemig from Vancouver BC /

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Whether you like this or not will
depend HEAVILY on whether you like
the particular brand of absinthe
used - we've found they vary as
widely (or wildly) as whiskies.
I'm not rating this recipe because
my variation changes the character
so radically - we had no Champagne,
so used red wine. 1-1/2 teaspoon
Absinthe in a champagne flute; fill
with budget-but-drinkable red wine
(we used Shiraz). The flavors of
both the Absinthe and the wine
bloomed and softened - it was
great, with Green-something
absinthe my stepson gave us. Then
we bought a bottle of St George
absinthe, which has much heavier
licorice flavor/scent, and the
mixture became cloying. Must find
the name of that first bottle!